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Friday, 14 October 2016

GOVT ‘SLOW TO GIVE INFORMATION’

Swaziland’s
foremost media freedom pressure group has called on the Swazi Government to
implement a Freedom of Information Act.

It came
after a survey revealed that Swaziland’s Government and agencies did not give
information transparently.

The Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter has released its annual report on open and secretive public
institutions in Swaziland.

MISA
concluded, ‘Swaziland needs to accelerate the process of passing the Freedom of
Information and Protection of Privacy Draft Bill of 2007 into law.’

The
report was based on field research and website analyses that considered how
transparent government departments and agencies were.

MISA
reported that the 2016 report, in a similar vein to previous
editions, offered
some good signs but overall the picture was ‘less than flattering’.

In
recognition of its good practice, the Swaziland Communications Commission was
awarded with the ‘golden key’ for being the most open institution from the
eight institutions that were surveyed.

Coming in
last place was the Central Statistics Office, which was awarded the ‘golden
padlock’ for being the most secretive of the institutions that were looked at.

MISA
recommended Swaziland should adopt a Freedom of Information Bill which provided
for access to information, openness, transparency and accountability. It added
the Official Secrets Act of 1968 should be repealed because it curtailed
freedom of information.